LITERARY CRUELTY IN THE SHORT PROSE OF BARBEY D’AUREVILLY, LÉON BLOY, AND VILLIERS DE L’ISLE-ADAM

Abstract

This dissertation examines the development of an aesthetic of cruelty in the short-prose fiction of Barbey d’Aurevilly, Léon Bloy, and Villiers de l’Isle-Adam. I argue that their work must be read as a reaction against its Catholic and secular context of production. Part one sets the theoretical parameters for the discussion by describing the elements of short prose that make the genre an especially powerful vehicle for tales about evil.

Part two is devoted to analyzing how these stories function within their Catholic context. First, I describe how the “Rogue Catholic” authors in my corpus embraced cruel narratives as a powerful moralizing tool, discrediting the conservative literary ideals championed by Louis Veuillot and others. I then uncover the religious themes that shape their work, focusing specifically on how they reinsert tragedy into the Christian worldview.

Part three examines the role of Barbey, Bloy, and Villiers at the Gil Blas, an influential literary journal. My claim is that many stories intentionally toe the line between religious propaganda and blatant pandering to a secular audience. On one hand, they exploit prurient themes and sensationalized violence. Through their works, they also conduct a virulent critique of the bourgeoisie. I demonstrate how they rejected the common fin-de-siècle reflex to explain criminal behavior using psychological and biological criteria alone. Rather than offering explanations for evil to temper its shock value, their narratives ratchet up the scale of horror.